WEST SALEM, Wis. – Steve Carlson topped a hotly-contested 25-lap late model feature on Friday night at LaCrosse Speedway, winning the annual Frostbuster race at the five-eighths-mile oval.
Jerimy Wagner led the first seven circuits of the late model event before Carlson charged by to take over the top spot. Carlson never looked back after that.
At the halfway mark, Nick Panitzke shot between Bobby Wilberg and Brad Powell to take over third. Panitzke, who had the faster car of the day, tracked down the top two with just four laps remaining.
However, with three laps left the second yellow of the race was waved. The lane choice realignment bunched up the field, with Carlson and Panitzke taking the front row and Ty Majeski and Jacob Goede filling the second row.
When the green waved again, Carlson and Panitzke battled back and forth on the restart. Just as Panitzke was getting around Carlson, calamity in turn two on the final lap brought out the third yellow of the event.
Carlson and Panitzke battled hard in turns one and two on the final lap. Panitzke got loose and Goede took over second, with Majeski and Bobby Wilberg rounding out the top five.
In his post-race interview, Carlson told the fans, “If you liked the finish of that race, come back out here for more action like that this season.”
Sam Niles took the lead two laps into the Sportsman feature, but things got very interesting down the stretch. Steve Schultz and Tom Luethe stayed glued to Niles’ bumper and gave him a serious challenge for the top spot over the final few laps.
Despite that duo’s best efforts, Niles held off both drivers to claim the victory.
In the Hobby Stock feature, Kaleb Hardy took home the win after the lead two cars were involved in an on track altercation and sent to the rear.
Hardy dominated the last two laps for the win.
Minnesota driver Ridge Oien made his first visit to LaCrosse a successful one, as he won the Hornet feature, while Jake Schomers’ debut in the Street Stocks was also a success, as he took the lead at halfway in the feature and ran away to victory.
The finish:
Steve Carlson, Jacob Goede, Nick Panizke, Ty Majeski, Bob Wilberg, Adam Degenhardt, Dean Cornelius, Brad Powell, Mike Ehde, Ty Reedy, Matthew Henderson, Mike Carlson, Justin Mullikin, Jeff Parington, Adam Oxborough, Tom Carlson, Don Turner, Steve Bachman, Carter Christenson, Jonathan Eckleberg, Brent Kirchner, Nick Clements, Rob Christen, Jerimy Wagner, Jimmy Summerfield, Harley Jankowski, Justin Neissis, Devin Schmidt.